# Nvidia Shield TV 113 Hacker News commenters recommended Nvidia Shield TV and 44 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 13 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 9 years (17 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** A long-supported Android TV box that plays local 4K media well with audio passthrough and app freedom, though its 2015-era chip lacks newer codecs and the interface shows ads. ## Why people recommend it - Best Android streaming device available (5 comments): "It's probably still the best Android TV you can get today but that's really sad because the SoC in it came out in 2015" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48547154)) "the shield is a much nicer device to use if one wants to use anything outside of their local media." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46839315)) "Shield performs exponentially better in every way except for the god awful stock interface" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46839352)) - Years of updates, lasts long (4 comments): "They were able to build this device and provide a Android TV certified 4K device that didn't need to have planned obsoleteness." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46837753)) "The Nvidia shield outlasted every android tv device from Google and maintained a near pure experience as promised" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50182408)) "for running it for like 9 years with a cost of less than $200 and essentially zero maintenance" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46838157)) - Great local 4K media playback (4 comments): "They are the best devices for playing pirate Emby servers 4k Remuxes with dolby vision and dolby audio support direct play." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46837669)) "I love the Shield, compared to even the Chromecast at the time, we noticed a huge difference in colour on the TV." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46843978)) "a device that simply works and passes the audio untouched to my sound receiver" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50294378)) - Sideload apps and custom launchers (4 comments): "I've upgraded to an nvidia shield using projectivy launcher which allows me to set a customized and very clean interface with the just the apps I use and nothing else." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48541273)) "The hardware is great, and if you install a custom ROM, you have more freedom than Apple TV will ever give you." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46373724)) "I use an NVIDIA shield on a dumb TV with firefox sideloaded (ad blockers, ect) for 95% of my streaming." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46250757)) ## What people warn about - Dated 2015 hardware (4 comments): "They're still decent hardware for a streaming device (although somewhat dated at this point), but now you have to go out of your way to make the software not shitty." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48544332)) "It's probably still the best Android TV you can get today but that's really sad because the SoC in it came out in 2015" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48547154)) "a circa 2015 design (the 2019 rev was just a cost reduce/bug fix with same performance)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46840635)) - Missing modern codecs and Atmos/FEL (4 comments): "It doesn't support TrueHD Atmos (UHD Blu-ray Atmos in other words). It also doesn't support FEL." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46846481)) "The lack of hardware support for a few modern codecs is a pretty big complaint from me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46837748)) "They're missing support for newer codecs and current WiFi standards, can't decode Dolby Vision FEL" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46838563)) - Ads and clunky stock interface (5 comments): "I love the NVIDIA Shield as a technical product...but...I really wish they spent some effort on User Experience." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46838329)) "I use a Shield for this reason, but it's clunky and I'd much rather have something that just works." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50074009)) "The only issue I ever had was Google adding ads to the front page of the Android TV launcher." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46589678)) - Stuck on old Android version (2 comments): "The way Shield TV is still occasionally getting some updates is impressive for example, but it's stayed on an ancient Android version" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48353770)) "going from fantastic to a horrible mess software wise over the span of a single Android generation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50300274)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Apple TV 4K](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-tv.md): 323 recommend - [Apple TV 4K](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-tv-4k.md): 93 recommend - [Roku streaming player](https://hackerapproved.com/p/roku.md): 20 recommend - [Amazon Fire TV Stick](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amazon-fire-tv-stick.md): 19 recommend - [Roku streaming device](https://hackerapproved.com/p/roku-streaming-device.md): 14 recommend ## Where to get it - [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=NVIDIA+SHIELD+TV+Pro+4K+HDR+streaming+media+player&tag=YOURTAG-20) (affiliate link) - [Official site](https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/shield/shield-tv-pro/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Nvidia Shield TV", https://hackerapproved.com/p/nvidia-shield-tv/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).